Chapter 18 #3
Water erupted from his mouth, and he rolled onto his side, heaving, gasping, his body convulsing as he expelled the dark water from his lungs.
Alive.
He was alive.
I collapsed beside him, sobbing, shaking, unable to do anything but press my face into my hands and cry.
“Agnes?” His voice was wrecked, barely a whisper. “What ... what happened?”
“I don’t know, Graham. You were just … walking into the loch.” My body shook from cold, from the adrenaline, and I turned to look at the water. Were we still too close? Could it pull us back in? Panic surged again.
“Get up,” I said, tugging his arm. “Graham, get up. Come on now.”
“Agnes, I need …”
“I don’t care what you need!” I screamed, as shouts sounded along the bank. “Get up now!”
“I’m trying. Okay, okay.” Graham rolled to his knees, his movements sluggish, and I took his arm, heaving him up to his feet.
“Let’s go,” I said, my teeth chattering. “Go, go, go.”
“I’ve got you, mate.” Ramsay swooped back to us at a dead run, and my jaw dropped open as he swept Graham into his arms and carried him up the bank and across the street. Lachlan followed, dragging me into his arms and rushing me along behind him.
As long as I lived, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get the sight of Ramsay carrying Graham, limp and almost lifeless, away from the shores of Loch Mirren out of my brain.
“Agnes!” Sophie cried, as Ramsay took Graham into Faelan’s vet’s office. It was the closest medically focused spot, and Lachlan carried me behind him, with Sophie, Faelan, and Zara all crowding around us.
“What’s happened?” Faelan asked.
“They need to get these clothes off,” Sophie said. “They’ve been in the loch. They’ll get hypothermia.”
“I’ve got blankets and towels through here.
” Faelan motioned us through into her exam room.
In short order, we were stripped and wrapped in blankets, and Faelan leaned into Graham, pressing her hands to his chest and closing her eyes.
His head drooped, but he remained awake, which was all I really cared about.
He was here.
And he almost hadn’t been.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat, my teeth chattering, as Sophie snuck a hot water bottle beneath my blanket. I clutched it to me, my eyes unable to leave Graham, until Faelan completed her healing and stepped back.
“He’ll be just fine,” Faelan murmured. “But he should rest today.”
“The pub…”
“Will be closed today.” Lachlan was already up and out the door before Graham could do so much as protest.
“What happened?” Faelan looked over to me, worry in her eyes, as Willow burst through the front door.
“Ramsay! I heard you were shouting all over town!” Willow looked frantic until she saw Ramsay standing in the corner, begrudgingly holding a blanket over his shoulders, and ran to him.
“I’m fine. It was Graham, lass.” Ramsay bent his head and nuzzled his face into her neck, and tears flooded my eyes again.
There was so much love in this town. It killed me to think about how close we’d come to losing someone we all cared about.
Because of me.
“We’re so sorry. We’ll have to reschedule your appointment.” I heard Zara usher out one of Faelan’s customers and winced.
“This is my—”
“It’s not your fault. And it’s fine if I have to reschedule a toenail clipping,” Faelan said, her tone brisk. She knelt in front of me. “Do you need healing too?”
“No.” Just my heart.
“I don’t remember,” Graham said. He looked over, meeting my eyes. He sounded lost. Confused. “I was walking, and then ... nothing. It’s just blank.”
“I think the loch called you,” I managed through my tears. “It pulled you into the water.”
“I honestly don’t know,” he said. “It was all … I just … I was unloading kegs and then I wasn’t.”
“Graham,” I whispered, my breath catching. “I don’t know how we’re going to do this. Maybe we need to leave?”
“We need to get you to the castle,” Sophie said. “I think it might be time that we all hunker down up there.”
“You can’t be serious,” I said, guilt creeping in at the thought of everyone leaving their businesses and their lives because of my family curse.
“Deadly.” Sophie gestured to Graham. “This isn’t over by a long shot, Agnes. And I think the safest thing is going to be for all of us to stay at the castle.”
“Ohhhh, a sleepover!” Willow beamed at me. “This will be fun.”
“Bloody hell,” Ramsay said.
“Oh stop, you’ll love it. Just think, you won’t have to deal with any customers and Lia makes excellent dinners.”
“True,” Ramsay said, mollified.
“I hate to say it, but I think she’s right.” Graham tried to stand and his legs buckled. Ramsay caught him before he could fall.
“Lean on me,” Ramsay said. “We’ll go slow.”
“Let’s just take my car,” Faelan suggested.
“Much better idea,” Sophie agreed. “Agnes, do you want me to stop and get you some clothes?”
“I’ll go. I should get Quilliam.”
“We’ll go with you,” Willow said. “We move in teams now.”
At that, everyone split up and I tried not to cry as I watched Graham hobble away into the car. The curse had struck. And for now, at least, we had won.
But I knew this victory wouldn’t last.
We were running out of time.